The Marauders' Wives
by Comfortably Grey
Summary: Its the Marauders 1st yr at Hogwarts. Sarah, James' cousin comes to be friends with Marauders & joins them on adventures. Follows the girls the Marauders come to love and Marauders adventures Lily, Severus included. No Voldy. Plz R&R. Rated just in case.
1. Chapter 1: A Journey to a New Home

**The Marauders' Wives**

**Chapter 1: The Journey to a New Home**

It was Friday, September 1st and after stowing her luggage in an empty compartment, which most were, since it was early, Sarah Peverell walked along the train exploring alone. Mr and Mrs Peverell, Sarah's parents, worked for the Ministry of Magic and were often called for last minute arrangements and "urgent meetings". Sarah didn't know exactly what they did, they worked in the Department of Mysteries, and they were, in every sense of the term, "un-speakables".

So Sarah walked alone along the train, her parents having left on one such occasion. Though she knew her cousin, aunt and uncle were outside, somewhere amidst the mass of people on Platform 9 ¾ she did not bother to look for them. She was quite content alone, comfortable even. It wasn't that she didn't get lonely, she did. Very lonely. But she always found a way to occupy herself; she kept herself busy so she didn't think about being alone. She would think through complicated scenarios in her head, or read a book, or fly her broom, or she would walk an hour to her cousin's house. And when all else failed, she would simply sit, in the big, stately manor, and imagine life with her parents home, and sometimes she would cry, especially when she went to bed alone, and woke up alone the next morning, a message sent by owl explaining that her parents had had to go on some far away mission.

But right now, on September 1st, on platform 9 ¾, Sarah was alright being alone. Her parents had just dropped her off at King's Cross Station and left. She had gotten her own cart, and lugged her heavy trunk and owl, _Orion,_ onto the train alone. She was independent, and thrilled to be going to Hogwarts for the first time. She didn't know what house she would be sorted into, nor did she care. Her parents had never told her which house they were in, though she had seen Ravenclaw memorabilia and the Gryffindor insignia on some items in the attic, however, she had also found items bearing the Slytherin Arms and Hufflepuff's crest. She had, it seemed, ancestors from all houses.

The thing that had Sarah most excited about was that at Hogwarts, she would never be truly alone; she would have friends, and a house full of people, and teachers and classmates. There would always be people. She would never feel abandoned again.

When she was younger, too small to walk to her cousin's house, she would spend her days in the company of their house elf, Binky, who was more like family than her parents, playing and talking. Binky was good company and Sarah would remember to write to her when she got to Hogwarts and was sorted.

The train whistled once as a warning that it would be leaving soon, so Sarah turned back to her empty, forlorn compartment. When she got there, she glanced out the window and saw her aunt and uncle and figured she should go say goodbye, since she wouldn't see them until Christmas. Sighing Sarah descended the stairs. Walking over to her extended family Sarah smiled.

"Hello Aunt Helen, Uncle Charles."

"Oh Sarah, hello dear, I didn't see your Mum and Dad. Where are they?" Aunt Helen craned her neck searching the platform for the missing Peverells.

"They aren't here. Had to go to the ministry. I've already got my stuff in a compartment. I just thought I would come say goodbye, since I won't see you until Christmas." As Sarah explained, their faces fell to sympathetic smiles.

"That's my sister for you. Always busy, always working. Ah, well. I hope you have fun at Hogwarts. James is around here somewhere." Uncle Charles gave her a weak smile, then turned to look for his only son, James.

The Potters were most unlike the Peverells. Charles and Helen, while they both worked, they led a balanced life. And Sarah could always count on them to keep her company, if not the adult Potters, then her cousin, who was more like her brother, James Potter, would.

Spotting James' messy black hair amidst the crowd, Mr Potter called to him.

"James, James! Come 'ere a minute."

James fought his way through the crowd with another brunette boy at his side. When he finally reached his parents, he looked slightly dishevelled.

"Wha- Oh, hey Sarah." James sounded slightly surprised to see his cousin talking to his parents, especially since her parents were no where to be found.

"Hey James." Then seeing the other boy standing slightly awkwardly to the side, she said. "Hi, I'm Sarah Peverell, James' cousin." She stuck out her hand and the boy grasped it.

"Remus Lupin." They shook hands smiling. Turning back to her Aunt and Uncle Sarah decided to take her leave from the group.

"Well, I'll see you later James and Remus, and hopefully I'll see you at Christmas. I've got to go check on Orion; I left him in the compartment. G'bye Aunt Helen, Bye Uncle Charles."

After hugging her aunt and uncle and waving at Remus and James, Sarah turned and walked absentmindedly back to the train entrance. She was almost there, when a blonde girl bumped into her, clearly attempting to wrestle her trunk onto the train.

"Oh, Sorry, I didn't see you. I swear this trunk is jinxed! It's my first year." She said smiling, a cat carrier in hand. "I'm Catie by the way, Catie Davis." She stuck out her hand for Sarah to shake.

"Sarah Peverell. Nice to meet you, it's my first year too…um, would you like some help with your trunk?" Sarah offered. "I've already got mine in a compartment, we could share one if you'd like. I heard the train fills up pretty quick."

"That'd be great, thanks." The two girls lifted the trunk with ease, now that they worked together, and settled comfortably in the compartment.

After two consecutive whistles, the train lurched forward and began pulling out of the station. The girls chatted effortlessly as they got to know each other. Sarah was thankful for having someone to sit with.

It had been about an hour when they heard a slamming door, which was quite an accomplishment since the doors to the compartments slid open and close. Both girls poked their heads out of their compartment, only to see a prefect doing the same. Since the situation, whatever it was, was being handled, Catie and Sarah resumed their conversation.

The trolley witch came to their compartment shortly after, and Sarah bought a liquorice wand and jumping frogs, Catie decided on jumping frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. They had just resettled with their candy when the topic of discussion came to the four Hogwarts Houses.

"Which house do you want to be in? I do hope we are in the same house!" Catie and Sarah had become good friends in the hour and a half that they knew each other.

"I don't know which house, any of them would be good, but I hope we're in the same house too." Catie looked astonished at Sarah's reply.

"Really? You don't have any preference or any idea? What about the house your parents or family was in?"

"Well, my parents travel a lot, and some how I never asked them. But I found stuff from all the houses in our attic. Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, either my parents used to be collectors, or I have blood lines from all the houses. So for me it doesn't really matter. What about you? Any preferences?"

"I was thinking Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. My mom's from Ravenclaw and Dad was Gryffindor. He told me to make sure I wasn't in Slytherin. Gryffindor and Slytherin, rivals from beyond the grave." Both girls burst into laughter, Catie had said the last sentence as though she were an announcer advertising a movie.

Sarah glanced at the watch on her wrist. If she was right about the distance of Hogwarts to King's Cross, and correct about the amount of time it took, then they had just 20 minutes before the train would stop in Hogsmeade station.

"We should probably get changed, we'll be there soon."

The girls rummaged in their trunks pulling out a set of plain black robes. The quickly changed, then they sat back down, nervous excitement settling over their compartment. After about ten minutes the train stopped. They silently got up, collected their things and walked off the train.

Following the yells of, "Firs' years this way, firs' years, over to me firs' years," the girls were led to a dark, black lake with little boats floating all around them. They were to sit four to a boat, so Catie and Sarah looked around for someone to share a boat with. Giving up they sat in a boat on their own and waited for people to take the vacant seats behind them.

When the boats started to speed magically over the still lake, the girls sat in rapt silence, gazing with awe at their new home, a home they would share with hundreds of other students, a home that held more mysteries than magic itself.

They reached the other side of the lake with a 'thud' and stepped out onto the grounds of Hogwarts. The journey to their new home was finished. Now that they were here, so much more lay ahead of them, more than anyone could expect. Hogwarts was a different experience for everyone, it was a unique time in an individual's life, and so, no one can tell another what to expect, it is a period exactly suited to the student. Hogwarts helps students to fully understand themselves, it brings out qualities that they never knew they possessed.

Hogwarts was a home like no other.


	2. Chapter 2: Destined House

**Chapter 2: Destined House**

They followed the game keeper, Hagrid, who had led them across the lake, up the stone steps and into the Entrance Hall where they were greeted by a serious witch.

"Good evening first years. I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. I will also be teaching you all Transfiguration."

The professor went over some of the basic rules before instructing them on what will take place at the sorting ceremony.

"When I call your name, you will move to the center of the stage, sit on the stool and place the hat on your head. After the hat has Sorted you, you will go sit with the appropriate table, your new house."

Then she left to make the final arrangements for the Sorting. Shortly after she returned, and the nervous first years walked silently into the Great Hall. The older students all watched eager to see who would be joining their houses. Once McGonagall was at the front of the room, along with the first years, she began calling out names.

"Abbot, Stephaney" _"RAVENCLAW"_

"Black, Sirius" _"GRYFFINDOR"_

"Carson, Joseph" _"SLYTHERIN"_

"Davis, Catie" Catie squeezed Sarah's hand before walking up to be Sorted by the ragged hat. _"GRYFFINDOR"_

"Diggory, Amos" _"HUFFLEPUFF"_

"Evans, Lily" _"GRYFFINDOR"_

"Goyle, Vincent" _"SLYTHERIN"_

"Lupin, Remus" Sarah watched the boy she had met on Platform 9 ¾ walk up to the hat, for the first time since the journey had began; she wondered where her cousin was. _"GRYFFINDOR"_

"Morlan, Fredrick" _"RAVENCLAW"_

"Pettigrew, Peter" _"GRYFFINDOR"_

"Peverell, Sarah" Sarah walked numbly up to the stool, sat down and placed the hat on her head. It seemed to be having a conversation with itself.

"_Ah, a Peverell once again, I wondered when I would sort another. Now where to put you, where to put you? Ancestors from every house so no help there. Qualities honoured by all founders. Let me see. Ravenclaw? You are smart, clever, and intelligent. You can think up answers to the most complex problems. No, you have many other, more overpowering features. Hufflepuff perhaps? You are kind, generous. But no, you have an edge, one that would be valued in Slytherin. So Slytherin then? No…no Slytherin won't do, you look out for others. Yes and you are brave, very brave. Not like your parents, but these are your strongest features, the ones rooted into your every action. Yes, it better be…GRYFFINDOR!"_

After what seemed like ages, the hat screamed its decision to the room. The table on the far right burst into cheers. As Sarah went to sit down she heard her cousin being called, and turned to watch.

"Potter, James"

He strode confidently up to the hat, sat down, and barley touched the hat to his head when it screamed, "_GRYFFINDOR". _It seemed as though the hat only took an enormous amount of time to sort her, everyone else was an easy fit.

Sarah continued on her way and sat next to Catie, across from a red-haired girl, which Sarah recognised as "Evans, Lily".

"Hi, I'm Sarah." She stuck her hand out across the table, the girl grasped it.

"I'm Lily. Nice to meet you." Just then a boy was called and Lily turned her attention back toward the stage.

"Snape, Severus" _"SLYTHERIN"_

Lily looked somewhat disappointed, but unsurprised, more like she knew where he would be sorted, and her speculation had just been confirmed.

"Do you know him?" Catie asked, curiosity emanating from her.

"Yeah, he was the first person to tell me I was a witch. He's a good friend of mine; too bad we aren't in the same house."

"Oh, that does suck. But I'm sure you guys can still be friends, I mean, it might just take a bit of extra effort." Sarah gave her a reassuring smile. A few more students were sorted, then the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, stood to say a few words. Instantly the hall fell silent.

"Welcome, to another year at Hogwarts! Just a few reminders before the feast begins, the _Forbidden _Forest is out of bounds, I should think the name is self-explanatory, but none the less, all have been given warning. Also Mr Filch has asked me to remind all students that spells are not to be used in the corridors between classes. For a full list of banned items please check Mr Filch's office. Now for a few last words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" With a clap, food magically appeared on the platters in front of them. The girls began piling food on their plates and ate in quiet satisfaction until they were full.

Once dinner and desert had ended the Prefects began ushering the first years toward their respective common rooms. Sarah, Catie and Lily followed their prefects, behind them four boys walked, talking and laughing. Sarah easily identified one laugh to belong to her cousin, James, but she didn't bother to turn around, she was enjoying the company she had.

After climbing what felt like a million stairs, they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. A prefect gave the password, "Mandrake" and proceeded into the common room.

It was a cozy, circular room decorated in red and gold, the Gryffindor colours, with window seats and bookshelves, and tables and chairs, and an assortment of couches and armchairs positioned around a large fireplace.

"Boys' dorms are up those stairs and to the left; girls' is to the right. Boys, do not attempt going up the stairs to the girls rooms, they are bewitched to turn into a stone slide if a boy attempts to climb up." One of the older, male prefects gave the directions to the first years, then a boy that was standing beside James decided to comment.

"Speaking from experience?" There were snickers and bits of laughter from the older students and his fellow prefects, he was slowly turning pink, one of the other prefects took pity and saved him the embarrassment of answering.

"Alright, alright, never mind that! Up you go first years, go settle in, your trunks are already up there."

Once the girls got to their dorm, they looked around for their beds, which were designated by their trunks placed at the bottom. There were four beds positioned in a semi-circle around the door. To the left was Lily's bed, then at the back was Sarah's and Catie's and another girl who seemed to be missing. They sat on the edge of their beds taking in their surroundings.

"I think it was quite rude what that boy said down there. The poor prefect was turning pink!" Lily started a conversation easily after the events in the common room.

"Oh I don't know, it was all in good fun, and he shouldn't have tried getting up to the girls' dorms in the first place." Catie was the first to disagree making Lily frown slightly.

"It was pretty funny, and it took some guts to talk back to a prefect on your first day." Sarah had to agree with Catie, she was used to her cousin's sense of humour, which was mainly pranks on other people, and was glad that he would have some one other than her to help him. Lily's frown deepened. "Oh come on Lily, no one got hurt!"

"I suppose…" Lily turned back to look through her trunk, but didn't look too convinced.

"I wonder who he was, and who he was with. They were all pretty cute, except the short one, he kind of looks like a rat." Lily and Sarah burst into laughter and Catie soon joined them. After a few minutes they regained composure.

"Do you want to go sit in the Common room, I'm not tired yet, and I'd love to get to know some more people." Catie didn't look tired at all; she looked just the opposite in fact.

"I'll come, I couldn't sleep now even if I was tired." Sarah and Catie looked expectantly at Lily.

"You two go ahead, I'm pretty tired. I'm going to get to bed." Lily yawned and went to look for her pyjamas while the other two left for the common room.

Before Lily went to bed she thought of the new friends she just made, and of Severus, and finally of Gryffindor house. This was where she was meant to be, it was her destined house.


	3. Chapter 3: Off Limits

**Chapter 3: Off Limits**

After Sirius' comment all the first years had been ushered upstairs, and the four new friends attempted to stifle their smiles as they passed the embarrassed Prefect but to no avail. Once safely in their dorm they all burst into laughter. They didn't bother to find their beds, but all sat on the first few that they found. Once their laughter had subsided they moved to sit on their own beds.

Unlike the girls' dorm, their beds were not arranged in a semi-circle, instead there were 2 beds on each side of the room. The bathroom was at the back. On the left was Sirius and James, the right was Remus and Peter.

"So, have you guys seen any girls you like yet? There are a lot of hot ones, eh?" Remus and James looked enquiringly at Sirius, unsure of how to respond. Peter had taken to rummaging in his trunk for something.

"Have you?" James asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, the first years are great. There's quite a few I wouldn't mind dating."

Sirius thought of dating as though it were a competition, he didn't think about how long a relationship would last, just that a hot girl would look good at his side. When he got bored or annoyed with her, he would break up with them and find a new girl. His new friends knew this about him, they had witnessed him flirting with every pretty girl that walked by, and noticed how bored he got talking to them.

"They are really pretty, but I haven't talked to any of them yet." James agreed with Sirius, though he was still curious as to his method of dating.

"What about you Remus? Peter?"

"Um, I dunno, they're pretty but, like James said, I don't know any of them." Remus looked unsure of what to say, while still remaining respectful to the girls. Peter did not bother answering, but muttered to himself now looking under his bed.

"Well, that can be fixed. What d'you say we head down to the common room. Talk to some people, see if there are any girls we like in Gryffindor." Sirius looked excited at this prospect, James and Remus shrugged and followed him out the door. Peter was now looking through his school bag, paying no attention to the conversation occurring around him.

They had just gotten to the landing where the girls and boys separated, when they literally bumped into two girls, one blonde and one brunette, coming down their staircase.

"Oh sorry…" The brunette mumbled as Sirius helped steady her. There were more mumbled apologies. When the girl looked up, she took one glance at Sirius, James and Remus before a smile spread on her face. Sirius felt like he was missing something, a feeling he did not enjoy.

Her blonde friend had bumped into Remus who, gentleman that he is, apologised and made sure she was alright before he looked at the rest of the collision. James was at the back, looking shocked. The brunette, still grasping Sirius' forearms, glanced at James again, released her grip on Sirius and was talking to James all in the span of 2 seconds.

Sirius blinked twice bewildered and noticed the blonde and Remus looking at James and the girl, listening to their conversation.

"Oh, hey James!"

"Hey Sarah."

"Hi Remus, this is my friend Catie by the way. Uh, Catie this is Remus and my cousin, James…" turning to Sirius she added, "Sorry about bumping into you, should probably watch where I'm going…I'm Sarah." As Catie shook hands with James and Remus, Sarah shook hands with Sirius, who had come to feel left out now that the other two knew this beautiful brunette.

"I'm Sirius, and it was my fault, I should have been watching." Sirius gave her his prize winning smile, before remembering that she was James' cousin. Sirius couldn't flirt with this girl, he couldn't date her, she was his best mate's cousin. She was off limits. He would just have to think of her as a friend, no an acquaintance. There were plenty of other, great girls at Hogwarts. _Not like her there aren't. _The thought came unbidden to his mind and he quickly dispelled it.

He would simply have to busy himself with other girls; of course he would have to find someone suitable first, but that could be arranged. He was woken from his reverie as he realised that he had to stop shaking Sarah's hand. These thoughts took 30 seconds and so it was a reasonable time to pull back his hand and introduce himself to her friend, Catie.

As he shook Catie's hand he thought about possible girlfriends. At first he thought of Catie, she was pretty and seemed nice enough, but then he saw the look in Remus' eye, and knew that Catie was off limits too.

He sighed as they continued down into the Common Room. He would find someone; he had to, not all the girls of Hogwarts could be off limits. He would start looking in the morning. In the mean time, he would socialize. Before rejoining the conversation completely Sirius made a mental note to tease Remus about his little "crush" later, when it was just the guys.

"-wish we could have brooms in first year! I'm going to miss flying this year." Sarah was talking about flying, something Sirius loved, perhaps they would be friends, it certainly seemed likely.

"Yeah I know, but at least we'll get to watch some good Quidditch Games, Slytherin versus Gryffindor in 2 weeks." James and Sarah were a lot a like, except Sarah was a hot girl and James was, well, James.

"Gryffindor will win. But it should be an interesting game." Catie added.

"Gryffindor all the way!" Sirius agreed. From across the room, an older boy jumped up.

"That's what I like to hear! Good job first years!" The five first years spun around to face the boy; he wasn't bad looking and was obviously a Quidditch player for Gryffindor. One of the other boys he was sitting with rolled his eyes, the others looked amused.

"Daniel, they're obviously going to say that, they want us to win. They haven't even seen us play yet."

"Still support is good. And faith is even better, Mark." The excited one, Daniel, would not let his friend take away his optimism.

"Yeah, faith is good, until we lose, and everyone is disappointed." Mark and Daniel were polar opposites, but that's probably why they were such great friends, they balanced each other.

The group of first years were still watching, and as Daniel sat back down Sarah turned back to her friends.

"Well that was depressing." Sarah meant the comment for her friends, who she knew would agree, but Mark was still listening to their comments.

"No, it's the truth." He stood up and walked toward them. Now it was only the Quidditch team and the five first years in the common room, everyone else had gone up to bed. Sarah looked up at the approaching Quidditch player, he was even better looking than his friend and they both looked like they were in second or third year.

"Well would you rather have us support Slytherin?"

"No, but-" Mark began but Sarah cut him off.

"But, no one would support a team that doesn't support itself." Sarah paused, watching Mark's reaction, "I get that you don't want to have everyone disappointed in you if you lose, especially not first years because they've never seen a win, but you don't have to be all foreboding. Plus, the best part of watching a Quidditch game is trashing the other team, especially when they lose. But, if you'd rather we yell insults at you…" She left her question hanging, raising her eyebrows toward Mark. Everyone was wondering whether Mark would continue to protest or give in.

He smiled and raising his hands slightly in defeat he said, "Alright, you win, you're right." He looked into her eyes and smiled even more, something that upset Sirius, though he didn't know why. Sticking his hand out to Sarah, Mark formally introduced himself, "I'm Mark Wood."

Sarah stood and grasped his hand, "Sarah Peverell."

"So are you still going to support us and yell insults at the Slytherins?"

"Of course, I would have any way. The reactions are the best." Sarah smiled, looking up into Mark's stormy grey eyes.

"You'll have to come watch a practice though, see for yourself how we play, that way there may just be a bit of truth to your confidence." Turning to walk back to his group he added, "The first one's Sunday afternoon at 1."

"Alright, see you then." Sarah sat back down.

Shortly after Catie and Sarah went up to bed, followed by James, Sirius and Remus. They didn't say much the rest of the night, Sirius forgot that he was going to tease Remus and they were all consumed in their own thoughts. For Sirius his thoughts were only of Sarah, trying to convince himself that she would be a better friend than girlfriend, and that there were a lot prettier of girls in Hogwarts.

They fell asleep in the silence that was only disrupted by Peter's occasional snorts in his sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Scars

**Chapter 4: Scars**

Since the following day was a Saturday there were no classes, so the dorms were quiet, no one needing to get up.

Sarah woke early, not bothering to close the curtains around her bed the night before; she woke up with the first rays of sunlight. After attempting, and failing to go back to sleep, Sarah decided to send a letter to her parents, though she doubted if they would even read it for weeks. She quickly wrote a letter and read it over to make sure it made sense.

_Dear Mom and Dad, _

_I hope your meeting at the Ministry went alright. I'm just writing to tell you that I've been sorted into Gryffindor along with James and some new friends. I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing fine. I'll see you at Christmas. _

_With Love,_

_Sarah_

It was always hard for Sarah to think of what to put in a letter, she didn't talk too often with her parents, so she decided to send a note to Binky too, just giving her the highlights of her first day at Hogwarts. When she had finished the letters, placed them in envelopes and sealed them, since no one else was up, Sarah got dressed so she could go to the Owlery to send them.

She dressed in simple Muggle clothes, as all students did on weekends, jeans and a sweater over t-shirt, and set off, hoping she wouldn't get lost to the Owlery. As she walked through the castle and grounds she admired the way the sun filtered in perfectly through the windows and leaves of the trees.

It was not far to the Owlery about 10 minutes from Gryffindor Tower, but since Sarah did not know exactly where it was, it took more like 20 for her to get there. When she did, she walked straight to Orion, not noticing the dark figure that lurked in the shadows.

Sirius woke abruptly on Saturday morning, temporarily forgetting that it was Saturday and that classes did not begin until Monday. Unable to fall back to sleep, he decided that he would go for a walk to explore the castle and grounds. Morning was the best time to explore since there was no one around to distract you or watch what you're up to.

That being said Sirius was not usually a morning person, but then again, he didn't mind being up early, so long as he slept soundly the night before, and in this case he had.

Dressing quickly in the first Muggle clothes he could find, Sirius left Gryffindor Tower. Realising that he didn't know where he wanted to start, Sirius thought through the place he knew Hogwarts held. Since he had never been to the Owlery and knew his owl, _Pandora, _would be particularly vindictive if she was neglected.

Sirius had a general idea of where the Owlery was, so it wasn't that hard for him to find, his mind was empty as he walked up the stairs that led to Owlery. It was a draftee room, since there was no glass in the windows allowing the birds flight whenever they wished.

He walked up and down the isles looking idly for Pandora. He wasn't particularly eager to find her because she was always in a bad mood, which I guess, makes it her personality. Sirius had walked over to a row of owls that was covered by shadows, when someone else entered the Owlery and went straight toward a dark brown owl, with white specks.

As he shifted his position to see who it was in the Owlery, he got a little too close to an owl in the row behind him. As it turns out, it was his own owl, Pandora. She didn't appreciate having Sirius' back in her face, so she hopped up on his shoulder and bit his ear. Sirius yelled in pain and Pandora jumped off his shoulder, leaving his ear and shoulder bleeding.

The other person in the Owlery turned around in shock, the owl that was perched on her arm ruffled its feathers.

"Hello?" The person called, Sirius did not yet know who they were, since the contrast of the sunlight made them a dark figure.

Stepping into the light of the sun, Sarah and Sirius both realised who the other person was.

"Oh, hi Sirius, I didn't see you there." Sarah looked relieved now that she knew the person in the shadows.

"That's alright." Sarah, for the first time that morning, took in his complete appearance and realised that he was bleeding.

"Sirius you're bleeding." Sirius reached a hand up to his ear as he hadn't realised that Pandora had drawn blood. Setting her owl down, she closed the distance between them, peering at his injured ear.

Since Sirius was slightly taller than her, Sarah stood on her tip-toes to see the cut better, one hand resting on his shoulder to help steady her. She reached up and gingerly touched his ear with her free hand, a sharp intake of breath from Sirius made her pull her hand away instantly. Looking up into his face, Sarah stepped back, removing her hand from Sirius' shoulder.

"Sorry about that." Sarah smiled at him and Sirius found himself wishing she still had her hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright it didn't hurt too much."

"What happened?"

"My owl bit me. Apparently I got too close to her." Sirius shrugged he didn't really know why Pandora hated him so much, just that she did, and gestured to the toffee and black speckled Great Horned Owl behind him.

"Really? What's her name?" Sarah was easy to talk to, she didn't just blather on about how cute some girl's outfit was like most girls.

"Pandora, what about yours?" Sirius gestured to the speckled owl that sat on the perch next to Sarah.

"Orion, um, why Pandora?"

"Do you know the old Legend about Pandora's Box? The one where she released all the evils of the world?" Sarah nodded so Sirius continued explaining, "Well, this owl is evil. She's vindictive so the name fit."

"Oh she can't be that bad." Sarah held out her arm for Pandora to perch, Sirius watched hoping that the owl wouldn't hurt her. Pandora looked hesitantly at Sarah and then stepped onto her arm happily. "See she's not evil, or vindictive."

Disbelieving, Sirius reached a hand out to touch Pandora, who had never been so accepting of anyone. As soon as she saw Sirius, Pandora screeched and flew off from Sarah's arm, leaving deep cuts where her talons had been. Sarah grasped her bleeding arm with her other hand, trying to staunch the blood flow.

"Ah, shit! That hurt."

"I'm sorry; do you want to go to the hospital wing?" Sarah looked up at Sirius' face and almost started laughing; it was a mixture of guilt, shock, and worry.

"No I'm fine Sirius, see the bleeding's already stopping. Although I will have to find a new sweater now." Sarah shrugged; she was tougher than Sirius knew. "Um can you help me finish tying these letters to Orion?"

"Sure." As he began tying on both letters, his curiosity got the better of him, "Um, who's Binky?" He had read the name on the address, which was the same as the letter for 'Mom and Dad'.

"She's my house elf. I know you must think it's really weird that I would send an elf a letter along with my mom and dad, but she's always been kind to me, she raised me. My mom and dad work a lot, so I don't see them much…You know they didn't even see me off from King's Cross, they had to go to a meeting." Sirius looked up at Sarah, regret filling him as he saw the tears starting to form in her eyes. Realising that he was watching her, she turned away, willing herself not to cry.

Sirius straightened up and walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, she didn't turn to look at him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry Sarah."

"Its fine, I'm fine." She shut her eyes once then turned around to face Sirius, a weak smile on her face. Seeing that he had tied both letters to Orion's leg, she walked over to her owl and let him perch on her uninjured arm. "Thank you." Sirius nodded unsure of what to say, then Sarah told Orion where to go and released him at a window.

"I understand Sarah; my parents are like that too, well, kind of. It's different with them. They value pure blood so much, and the connection with Slytherin house, they think everyone else is scum." Sirius paused and Sarah saw the pained expression on his face.

"Sirius, you don't have to tell me this, its ok." Sirius looked at Sarah and nodded before continuing.

"I know Sarah, but I want to. You're probably the only one that will understand what it's like, its nice to have someone to talk to that gets it." Sarah nodded, allowing Sirius to continue. "The thing is, I don't agree with them, I'm the outsider in the family, and no one cares what happens to me, I could die and they wouldn't care unless it made them look bad, I'm practically invisible, except when they feel like making me conform. They're awful." He swallowed hard then and looked at his feet, Sarah walked over to him, understanding what it's like to feel invisible, and put a hand on his arm, Sirius looked into her eyes, compassion filled them and understanding.

They didn't speak for a while, both just looking into each other's eyes, both understanding what the other felt, and both finding comfort in each other. Finally, Sarah looked away, removing his hand from his arm, she looked down at her watch.

"It's already 8 o'clock. We should probably head back, people might be worried, as much of a change that is, and I'm starving."

"Yeah, time goes by fast when you're dealing with an evil bird." Both of them smiled as Sirius held the door open for her. They walked through the castle, passing a few people here and there in the corridors.

When they got to Gryffindor Tower, the common room was still fairly empty, only 5 older students sat around a table, watching a game of Wizard's Chess. Sarah turned to Sirius.

"I'm going to go change my sweater and see if my friends are up; do you want to go to breakfast with us?"

"Um, sure, I'll go check on James and Remus too." They each went their separate ways on the landing of the stairs, Sarah going up to the girls' dorm, Sirius to the boys'.


	5. Chapter 5: Interrogation

**Chapter 5: Interrogation**

Sarah pushed open the door to her dorm. Seeing her dorm mates sitting on the end of their beds talking she greeted them, "Hey Lily, hey Catie." As she stepped further in, a pillow flew past, just missing her face.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" Lily said jumping up, hands on hips. Catie stood up next to her.

"More importantly, what the hell happened to you?" She said gesturing to Sarah's bloody arm.

"To answer your questions, 1) I was in the Owlery and 2) it's a really long story. Are you guys ready for breakfast, I'm starving. Oh, and are you alright with the boys coming?" She walked over to her trunk and looked around for a band-aid.

"Yes, I'm hungry too, we were waiting for you by the way, and yes the boys can come. But I like long stories, so you're going to have to tell us." Catie replied knowing who 'the boys' referred to having met them last night.

"Quick question, who are 'the boys'?" Lily put air quotes around the last two words, frustrated that she didn't know.

"My cousin James and his friends Sirius and Remus."

"Oh, ok, and shouldn't you go to the hospital wing?" Lily eyed Sarah cuts suspiciously.

"No I'm fine." She said pulling out a band-aid and tapping it with her wand she said, "Engorgio". Instantly the band-aid grew to 5 times its normal size. Then Sarah walked into the bathroom to clean her cuts.

A minute later she returned and put the band-aid on. Then she began rummaging in her trunk for a sweater.

"Uh, Sarah you could be explaining right now." Catie reminded.

"I'm not going to get out of this am I?"

"Nope, so you might as well start now." Lily and Catie sat on their beds; it was just them in the dorm, their other room mate having already left.

"Fine. So I woke up early and decided that I should send a letter to my mom and dad. I wrote one quickly and walked to the Owlery so I could send it with my owl, Orion. Any way long story short, Sirius was there too, we started talking about his evil owl, I didn't believe him so I let her perch on my arm. Then Sirius tried to touch her, she freaked out and flew away, leaving cuts on my arm. There that's it." Sarah resumed searching for a sweater; she had spoken so quickly Lily and Catie were still trying to digest all the information. More to herself than the others, Sarah groaned, "Are you kidding me? This is the only sweater I brought, besides the sweatshirts and hoodies?" Completely ignoring her later comment, Catie and Lily looked at her.

"That's it? No juicy romance or evil sabotage?" Catie looked thoroughly disappointed.

"Uh, no, my life is not a soap opera. And why would you think that I would have a 'juicy romance' with Sirius?"

"No reason. Just wondering." She looked away as Sarah pulled out one of her hoodies and put it on.

"So wait, you got up early, and went to the Owlery, met Sirius on chance, got scratched by _his_ owl and then just came back, ready for breakfast? If you came right back, why isn't your arm still gushing blood, your cuts have already stopped bleeding. What aren't you telling us?" Sarah found Lily very accusatory when she said that it was Sirius' owl that scratched her. Catie's face had lit up, intrigue written all over it.

Sarah felt very defensive, and she didn't really know why. "What, am I under interrogation? Is it a crime that my arm is no longer bleeding? And just by the way, Sirius warned me about the owl; it's not his fault Lily."

"And the plot thickens." Catie commented from her bed.

"Sarah, I'm just curious, ok?"

Sarah sighed, "Sorry, it just feels like you guys are interrogating me like a criminal. And we talked for a bit after the _Pandora Incident. _That's his owl's name, Pandora."

"He is cute you know Sarah, and it seems like you two got to know each other, is there going to a development in your relationship?" Catie loved gossip that much was obvious. Not that she would ever tell anyone else, she just liked to be informed.

Sarah rolled her eyes dramatically. "No Catie, but, what about you and Remus, I saw that look last night. I'd bet that he likes you. So, is there going to be a passionate romance?" Sarah imitated Catie's tone of voice, while Catie flushed a deep red.

Lily and Sarah were almost rolling on the ground they were laughing so hard, Catie threw a pillow at Sarah, making it the second one this morning. Standing Catie said, "Come on let's go eat."

The three girls walked out the door, Sarah and Lily still smiling widely. When they got to the Common room, they expected to see the boy's waiting there, but they were no where to be found.

"Maybe they left without us; it has been half an hour." Lily suggested. Catie frowned.

"I don't think they would…"

"No I don't think so either. Maybe we should check their dorm." Lily and Catie looked at Sarah like she was crazy. "What? The boy's stairs don't turn into a slide, it was in _Hogwarts: A history. _I read a bit of it in the summer when I was bored." The two girls still looked sceptical about going into the boys' dormitory. Once again Sarah rolled her eyes; they were getting good exercise today. "Fine, I'll go alone, one of them is my cousin after all."

As she started up the stairs she heard Catie talking to Lily, "Brave Soul."

Sarah smiled as she continued walking up to the boys' dorm. Finally she came to a door that read 'First Year Boys', from inside she could hear whispers, so they were still here. Sarah raised her fist and knocked on the door. The whispers stopped abruptly.

A voice she recognised as her cousin's called, "Who is it?" Sarah, once again rolled her eyes.

"James, open up, it's your cousin." There were more whispers which Sarah couldn't make out, then James spoke again.

"Uh, Sarah what do you want?"


	6. Chapter 6: Plans

**Chapter 6: Plans **

**A/N: **This chapter goes back to where Sirius and Sarah went their dorms.

Sirius watched Sarah disappear up the winding staircase before climbing up the boys' to his dorm. He didn't know why he decided to tell her about his messed up family but he did, and she understood. Sirius awoke from his thoughts as he reached his dorm. He opened the door and saw that everyone was awake.

"Oh there you are mate. We've been wondering where you were. What happened to your ear?" James was the first to notice the cut on his left ear, which Sirius had completely forgotten about. Absentmindedly he touched the spot with the cut, noticing that it was no longer bleeding.

"Long story." He said plopping down on his bed. It was probably the wrong thing to say if he wanted them to just forget about it, because they all turned looking interestedly at him. "Do you guys want to get breakfast? Your cousin invited us to join them." Sirius said, hoping to navigate away from his cut which involved Sarah.

"My cousin? I'm, good with that, what about you?" James looked at Remus and Peter, both nodded, though Peter had yet to meet Sarah.

"What have you guys been doing?" Sirius looked at James and Remus for an answer knowing Peter wouldn't be the one to tell him.

"Trying to figure out what to do today, we haven't had much luck yet though." James frowned, visibly disappointed with the lack of result.

"Well what did you guys do at home over the summer?"

"Nothing much, summer was pretty boring actually." Remus looked disappointed that he couldn't contribute any more.

"Hung out with Sarah, my parents had a million and one guests over the summer. So I used to come up with pranks to use on them." An evil grin spread across Sirius' face.

"Well, I don't see why pranking people wouldn't work here."

"You know Sirius, you're right…but we need a prankee." Remus looked unsure whether he wanted to risk a detention or not.

"Why not the caretaker? Filch. He's always out to get students, so why not prank him. Although I'm not sure if I want to spend a detention with him." Sirius and James both had smirks on their face as they turned to look at Remus.

"Alright, so we prank Filch. Who's in?" James looked at Peter expectantly figuring that the others would take part, since it was their idea.

Peter, Remus and Sirius confirmed that they would take part and they moved to sit on Sirius' and James' beds so that they were closer and dropped their voices to a whisper, planning their first prank together.

After a while there was a knock on their door just as they were finalizing the plan, instantly they stopped talking.

"Who is it?" James called, if it was a teacher or a prefect, they would need to think fast to avoid suspicion.

"James, it's your cousin, open up." Sarah sounded annoyed.

"Why is she here?"

"I don't know, what do you think she wants?" None of the boys remembered that they were supposed to have breakfast with Sarah and her friends.

"Uh, Sarah what do you want?" James called again, not moving from his seat on the bed.

"James, really? Open the door or I will, I don't particularly enjoy talking to it."

"Better open it, she's got a point you know." Remus advised.

"Yeah probably." James was standing before Sirius spoke.

"No one say anything, we don't want to get caught okay?" After everyone agreed, James walked to the door and opened it, Sarah didn't look happy to be kept waiting.

"Took you long enough. Are you guys ready?" James was puzzled at Sarah's question, _ready for what? _

"Why do I get the feeling I'm forgetting something?" James asked as Sarah stepped around him and into the dorm. After looking around, she turned back to answer James, who had shut the door behind her.

"That's probably because you are. Breakfast, the most important meal of the day? Remember yet?"

"Oh, yeah sorry…" James voice trailed off as he realised Sarah was looking at his other three dorm mates all seated as though conspiring for something. Sarah walked over to the only boy she hadn't met yet, smiled and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Sarah." Peter told her his name and shook her hand. Seeing Peter's expression, which looked like he was nervous something was going to be discovered, Sarah stepped back a bit to look at all of them. "What are you guys up to?" She asked suspiciously looking around.

"Nothing." Sirius was the first to respond and Sarah knew that he wouldn't talk.

Remus swallowed and looked up at Sarah, instantly she knew that he wouldn't betray the confidence of his friends. Knowing James well, she turned to Peter, the weakest link for this purpose.

"Peter, what are they planning?" Peter looked incredibly nervous under Sarah's intense stare, in fact anticipation was almost palpable in the room.

"Um, n-nothing." Sarah continued to look at him expectantly, knowing he would tell her everything she would want to know. "To-to prank Mr Filch." Peter almost choked trying to keep the words in and get them out at the same time.

Sirius stood up exasperated and Sarah smiled triumphantly. "Peter! You weren't supposed to say anything." Expecting her to either report them or try to stop them, Sirius was infuriated at Peter's lack of control, Remus looked worried about getting caught and Peter looked ashamed, James, however, was smiling at his cousin.

"Well James I'm glad to see that you found people to do your pranks with." James continued smiling and Sirius looked at him incredulously.

"How can you be smiling? Everything just got ruined; she'll either report us or stop us." Sirius was talking to James as though Sarah wasn't even there, something that offended her deeply.

"Ouch, Sirius." Sarah said sarcastically. "Now are you guys coming to breakfast or not?"

Sirius looked mildly bewildered and James continued to smile. "She's not like that, mate." He said reassuring Sirius that Sarah would not tattle. "And yeah, we'll come, just give us a minute to get ourselves together." Sarah nodded and went to sit on James' bed while the boys all got up to look for the items they were missing.

"Alright, while you guys do that, you can tell me the plan." Sarah did not ask it was almost an instruction, something that they wouldn't deny though Sirius still looked sceptical. James began rummaging in his trunk, presumably for a sweater, or socks, maybe even shoes, all of which he was missing.

"So we're going to prank Filch, because he's always going after students, looking for a way to punish them..." James' voice trailed off as he dug deeper into his trunk. Sirius picked up where he left off.

"We're going to set of a massive collection of dung bombs outside his office, and hopefully throw some in it. He should enjoy the smell." Sirius' evil grin had returned, Sarah sat quietly thinking over their plan for a few seconds.

"That's it?"

"What do you mean, 'that's it'? It's a good plan it'll be so stinky that his eyes will water." Sirius looked genuinely offended. Sarah shrugged.

"Well, when are you planning to set them off?"

"We were thinking around lunch, that way there won't be any students wandering around, they'll all be in the Great Hall." Remus explained he was the only one that was fully dressed. Sirius was looking for a sweater having found socks; James was looking for his other shoe and Peter was looking for God-knows-what.

"True, what's your excuse for why you aren't at lunch?" Everyone stopped what they were doing, they hadn't at all thought about that. Knowing this, Sarah picked up James' missing shoe from the floor by his bed and threw it, successfully, at his head.

"Ouch, what was…?" James trailed off as he looked round to see who had thrown the shoe.

"James, how many times have I told you? _Always_ have an excuse ready so you don't contradict each other. _Always_ have an alternative exit, in case one is blocked by a teacher. And _always_ make sure that your efforts are worth while. Things you did not do." Sarah looked at him; James merely shrugged before putting on his shoe. "Honestly, you guys have been here a day and you can't find half your things."

Seeing that Sirius was now looking for his shoes, Sarah rolled her eyes. "Are you a wizard or what? _Accio Sirius' Shoes." _She waved her wand, and two pairs of shoes came flying at her, she leapt off her cousin's bed just in time. "There can we go now?" Sarah was irritated to say the least.

The boys followed after her, Sirius mumbling, "Of course I'm a wizard…If I wasn't I wouldn't be here…just didn't want to use a summoning charm…"

"Oh, Sirius, get over it." Sarah called over her shoulder, she heard James say, "She's right, mate. It isn't a big deal, she's just hungry…"

As they reached the common room, Sarah walked straight over to Alice.

"Hey, sorry it took so long, they couldn't find half their stuff, where's Lily?" Sarah asked looking around for the dark red hair.

"She just left, like two minutes ago. Turns out she forgot she had to meet her friend for breakfast, so it's just going to be us two, and them." Catie gestured to the staircase where the boys were just emerging, immersed in conversation. Sarah turned back to them.

"Hurry up; you'd think I was making you go to Bingo or something, not breakfast!" They stopped talking as they reached the girls and after introducing Catie to Peter they headed down for breakfast.

"James, I'll help you guys with your plan later ok?" Sarah whispered to her cousin, he nodded and both resumed the debate the rest of the group was having, 'What's tastier, bacon or sausage?' Sarah, Sirius and James voted for bacon while Peter, Remus and Catie voted sausage, the walk to the Great Hall was spent trying to convince each other which breakfast food was better.

They sat at the end of the Gryffindor table and ate a spectacular feast. Sarah found a chocolate éclair amongst the pastries, it just happened to be her favourite. Once they had finished eating, Lily ran up to them, not realising who they were sitting next to.

"Sarah, Catie do…" Lily's voice trailed off as the entire group turned to look at her. Her eyes narrowed ominously as they fell on James and Sirius. Sarah introduced her; she hadn't noticed the change in Lily.

"James, Sirius, Remus, Peter this is Lily, Lily this is my cousin James, Sirius, Remus and Peter." Sarah gestured to each boy as she introduced them, then her eyes fell upon Lily's. "Um, we'll see you guys later."

Sarah stood pulling Catie by the arm with her and walked quickly out of the hall with Lily. Back at the table the boys were utterly perplexed.

"Well that was different." Sirius commented.

"Wasn't that the girl that was with Snivellus on the train?" James recalled, understanding dawned on them as they recognised the girl and realised why she showed them so much dislike.


	7. Chapter 7: If u dont know i cant help u!

**Chapter 7: If you don't know then I can't help you!**

Once out of the Great Hall, Sarah turned to Lily. "What was that all about?" Catie looked disgruntled from being dragged from the hall.

"Do you remember my friend, Severus? He was sorted into Slytherin?" Both girls nodded, Catie now intrigued by the drama that was unfolding. "Well, on the train we shared a compartment with your _cousin,_" She practically spat the word out, "and his friend, Sirius, was it? Anyway they made fun of Severus, when they heard him talk about being sorted into Slytherin. So we decided to leave and as we were one of them called him _Snivellus. _I can NOT believe he is your cousin! You're so nice." Lily was raging; she obviously didn't like it when her friends were insulted. Sarah looked exasperated at what her cousin had done.

"Oh, Lily I'm sorry, he can be a jerk sometimes. I guess all guys can…" Sarah looked into Lily's eyes begging Lily to understand how sorry she was.

"I'm not mad at you Sarah. You can't control what he does. Just, please don't expect me to be friends with him." Both girls smiled and hugged, just as they heard water splashing on the floor of the Great Hall, and some one yell.

The girls rushed into the hall, only to see Severus drenched from head to toe standing by the exit. Lily and Catie ran over to him and they all walked swiftly out of the hall which was now laughing at the misfortune of the first year. They all assumed it was Peeves the ghost who had thrown the water balloon at him.

Sarah scanned the room looking for the culprit, and was horrified and angry to see her cousin and Sirius high fiving across the table. She walked over to them her rage growing with every step. When she reached them, she stared down at them with 10 times the amount of disgust that Lily had. Instantly they fell silent.

"James! What the hell was that?" Sirius responded to Sarah's whispered fury calmly.

"That was Snivellus getting a much needed hair wash, greasy git." Sarah turned to him, glaring.

"You're such a jerk." Sirius looked taken aback; Sarah returned her attention to James.

"Why would you do something like that? In front of everyone!" James swallowed; unsure of what to say he had never seen Sarah this mad before, Sirius once again answered.

"Told you, it's what he deserved-"Sarah cut him off, tired of his arrogance.

"I'm not talking to you, so just _**shut up!**_ I know it's probably hard for you to understand this, but I don't care what you have to say!" The rage and force in her voice could be felt by the four boys that sat closest to where she stood, and though her voice was just more than a whisper, it was stronger than a yell. Once more she turned to her cousin, who was looking down at his plate. She sat down on the bench next to him.

"James, _why?_ Just tell me why." Her voice was calmer now and she was almost begging him to tell her everything. James finally found his voice.

"He was walking up the isle and he saw us. He recognized us from the train-we shared a compartment with him and your friend, he insulted me, so we (*he gestured to Sirius and himself*) insulted him back.- Anyway he set Sirius' shoe on fire, we took care of it immediately but retaliation was necessary he can't think that we won't do anything if he hexes one of us. So that's when we decided on the water balloon." Sarah nodded as James looked up at her.

"Where'd you get the balloon?" Sarah looked from James to Remus to Peter, consciously avoiding Sirius. James smiled his lopsided smile, now that Sarah wasn't mad at him; a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

"That's the first thing you ask? _Where'd you get the balloon? _Not 'He set Sirius' shoe on fire?' or 'Are you ok, your foot was set on fire!'" Sirius looked at Sarah incredulously.

Sarah looked at him and rolled her eyes, then she hopped up. Her back toward Sirius she spoke to the other three boys.

"Well, I'll see you lot later." Then she left the great hall.

The boys stared after her, James smiling happily now that Sarah understood the prank, Sirius fuming now that Sarah was ignoring him, Remus and Peter finishing their breakfast happily.

"I'm glad that went well. What should we do today? Sarah said she had some ideas for pranking Filch." James turned back to the group grinning and eating some of the food off his nearly full plate.

"Why's she ignoring me? What'd I do?" Sirius looked completely confused. James shrugged.

"I dunno, maybe you should ask her." James replied amusement clearly twinkling in his eyes.

"I'm sure that will go over well, _'If you don't know what you did then I can't help you!'_" Sirius mimicked a preppy girl's voice and the four boys burst out in laughter. "I think I'll wait it out or figure it out for myself thanks."

"She's not like that Sirius, well at least not the voice…" James trailed off as he shovelled more food into his mouth.

"I really have no clue what I did though." Remus rolled his eyes, sometimes he really wondered about Sirius' intelligence level.

"You really have no idea?" Sirius turned eagerly to Remus hoping he would shed some light on his current predicament.

"No, care to share Remus?"

"She wanted to talk to James, Sirius, not you and you kept interrupting even when she told you to shut up. Plus you didn't exactly explain properly. All you said was that it was what the 'slimy git', as you said, deserved. All that told her was that you were a vindictive, arrogant guy. She did tell you exactly what you did."

"That's it? Well why's she mad about that? It's true!"

"It doesn't matter if it's true Sirius, you really don't know anything about girls do you?" Remus asked.

"You know I resent that Remus. Come on lets go outside." Sirius got up still glaring at Remus; the rest of the boys got up and walked out of the Great Hall.


	8. Chapter 8: Guilty By Association

**Chapter 8: Guilty By Association**

Sarah walked out of the Great Hall, knowing exactly what happened in the Hall, and knowing that Severus would not want to be her friend. Even though she was positive that Severus would be upset, but she would not apologise for her cousin's retaliation. Sarah decided that she would check the library first, something told her that Lily would go there, plus since Severus was soaking wet he wouldn't want to go outside, and they couldn't go to a common room since they were in different houses.

She pulled open the door to the library, and heard force filled whispers coming from a private section beyond her sight. She recognised two of the voices and so headed in that direction. When she got there she noticed that Severus was now completely dried, probably done by magic.

"Hey guys." Sarah greeted Lily and Catie, then turning to Severus she said, "Hi, I'm Sarah Peverell." Severus looked her over once before shaking her hand.

"I'm Severus Snape." Sarah sat down beside Catie and across from Lily. Severus resumed the conversation they were having before Sarah's arrival.

"I swear I will get them back. Stupid coward, only attacks with his stupid friends behind him." Severus' black eyes glinted with hate and vengeance.

"You don't even know who did it. It could have been Peeves." Lily tried to reason with him.

"I _know_ it was them." As Lily and Severus continued to banter about revenge, Catie turned to Sarah.

"Where were you? We thought you were with us."

"I was talking to my cousin, he…um well he did it. Severus is going to hate me and I just met him. But I-"

Though Sarah and Catie were whispering, Lily and Severus had stopped their little argument and so could hear everything that was being said.

"What was that? About your cousin doing something?" Sarah turned back to Lily and Severus, looking nervous. She decided that he should know the truth before deciding to be friends. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. Opening them she looked right into the pure black of Severus' eyes.

"James Potter, I believe you've met, is my cousin. And, either he or one of his friends threw the water balloon at you…" The rage that grew within the black eyes was tremendous.

He whipped out his wand, jumped up and pointed it at Sarah. Instinctually Sarah drew her own, and leapt to her feet. Lily, also standing grabbed Severus' arm to try to prevent him from cursing her friend, and Catie stood beside Sarah, wand drawn.

"Severus, she's not her cousin. She's nothing like him. She's a great friend, please Severus, she's not like him." Lily begged. Severus remained ready to fight, though he responded to Lily.

"She's his cousin! Of course she's like him!" Sarah fought the urge to respond to the accusation, knowing that Lily would get through to him better.

"She isn't! She's really nice and an amazing friend. Please Severus. She can't control her cousin! She's not him!" Lily's voice was desperate as she looked up at his face.

"Guilty by association then!" He practically yelled it and Sarah saw him wave his wand as he was about to curse her.

"Expelliarmus"

"Conjunctivitis"

Sarah and Severus both said incantations, Sarah only slightly ahead of Severus, but it made the greatest of difference. Instead of Sarah's eyesight being temporarily damaged, Severus' wand flew out of his hand and into Sarah's. He stared blankly at his hand, where his wand had once been and then looked at Sarah, rage present in his eyes. Lily looked completely astounded that Severus had tried to curse her friend when she had done nothing to him.

Lily took a step away from Severus then walked to stand beside Sarah.

"That was uncalled for Severus; she didn't do anything to you. When you understand that people can be different than their families, let me know." Turning to Sarah and Catie she added, "Come on let's go." She picked up her bag and with Catie she started walking toward the library doors.

Severus looked horrified that Lily had walked away from him, staring after her. Then he remembered that Sarah was still there and turned back to her, anger flaring up again.

"Aren't you going to gloat?" He said venomously.

"Why? Because that's what my cousin would do? I'm not him." She walked around the table in the middle of where they were sitting, passing right in front of Severus toward the door. "Although I don't blame him for what he did. You set his friend's shoe on fire, it was fair game, he was looking out for his friend." She handed him back his wand and followed Lily and Catie to the doors.

"Wait!" Severus called after her, Sarah turned around to face him. "I know you're not like your cousin. He would have cursed me with my own wand. And he wouldn't have just disarmed me; he would have cursed me back…"

Sarah smiled at Severus' revelation.

"Come on. Let's go find Lily."


	9. Chapter 9: Mark My Words

**Chapter 9: Mark My Words**

The rest of the morning passed without conflict from Severus or the Gryffindor Boys. After lunch, Lily, Catie, Sev and Sarah all sat under a tree near the Quidditch pitch. Slytherin was having a practice and the group watched curiously, commenting on good plays and fumbles.

At first Severus wasn't too happy about the Gryffindor's watching, but he warmed up to the idea when they complimented the keeper and chasers. Sarah found the beaters to be a bit too aggressive, but then again, they were Slytherins.

"Check out that dive" Sarah commented as one of the chasers pulled into a steep dive to catch the Quaffle and simultaneously avoid a bludger. _Crap. They're going to be hard to beat. They've got interesting moves. _Sarah thought as she nervously bit her lip.

"Oi Sarah!" Sarah spun around at the sound of her name to see her cousin and Sirius coming over to the little group. Severus became like stone as they drew nearer so Sarah figured that rather than create another problem, she would go and meet them.

"I'll be right back" She said as she stood up and met the approaching boys a little ways from the group. "What's up?"

"Is that Snivellus over there?" Sirius asked peering around Sarah who rolled her eyes.

"I don't know a Snivellus, Black" She replied coldly. The use of his last name made Sirius realize that Sarah was still mad at him, or at least irritated. "What do you want?"

"Still mad huh, Sarah?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know what you're talking about, James." She gave her cousin a small smile and he grinned back at her.

"Right, well are you up for working on our prank?" Sarah glanced at Sirius, dislike clear in her eyes. "Please Sarah, we really need your help" James coaxed, knowing that if she didn't focus on Sirius' involvement she would help him. Sirius however, didn't get the memo and snorted at James' comment.

"We do _not _need her help!" James turned to look at his friend who just turned what would've have been their best ally into their worst enemy. James recognized the look in her eye as Sarah turned to glare at Sirius briefly before refocusing on James.

"Looks like you don't need my help James, now if you'll excuse me." Sarah turned back toward her group of friends.

There was nothing left for James to do but watch her walk back to his enemy, to Snape. She left because of Sirius, sure Sirius is his best mate, but he just pissed her off enough for her to turn down a prank.

"Damn it Sirius, what the hell?" Sirius and James turned back toward the castle.

"We don't need her help." Sirius replied bitterly.

"It doesn't matter Sirius! She's my cousin and now she's hanging out with Snivellus and it's your fault!"

"Relax James, she'll come around. She can't possibly like _him_ over us." They walked through the entrance hall, heading to Gryffindor Tower.

"No not _us_ but she can like him over _you_ and if she likes him more than you, _we_ are screwed. You know why? Because she likes _all_ of them and really hates you."

"I'm pretty sure you're over reacting James."

"You think I'm over reacting? Sirius, which one of us has known her for 11 years? Sarah knows how to hold a grudge when she feels like it. She might forgive me rather quickly but that's only because I'm family, but why would she forgive you?"

"James just calm down, this honestly isn't the end of the world"

"Not yet it isn't. Just wait for her to take revenge, then you'll be begging for mercy."

Sirius burst out laughing at his friend's seemingly melodramatic reaction.

"You laugh now, but you won't later."

"Jamesy are you sacred of a little 11 year-old girl?" Sirius laughed.

"Mark my words Black, mark my words."

:.:.:

After dinner the Gryffindors sat in the Common Room with the fires lit making the room cozy. Lily, Catie, and Sarah sat on a couch near one of the fires in a somewhat secluded corner discussing the events of the day.

"Sirius Black was the most arrogant, egotistical, toe-rag prick!" Sarah ranted after telling her friends about Sirius' attitude towards her.

"Sarah don't you think you might be judging him too quickly, he didn't do anything that bad."

"Catie it's not what he did, it's the way he did it. It's his superior attitude. He thinks he's Merlin's gift to Hogwarts." Sarah explained.

"Sarah, I'm not saying I disagree with you, but how do you know all that if you've only known him for a day and spoke to him for like an hour." Lily asked frowning slightly.

"The way he talks and acts, his expressions, you can tell a lot when you know where to look." Sarah said with a shrug.

"So you can just read people?" Catie asked, intrigue all over her face. Sarah simply shrugged, as James walked over to the three girls.

"What do you want Potter?" Lily asked, irritated that a boy, that just happened to be someone she already didn't like, interrupted their 'girl talk'. James looked slightly taken aback at Lily's harsh tone.

"I was just wondering if I could talk to Sarah for a bit." Sarah threw Lily a look that said 'he did nothing wrong' before getting up and following James out the Portrait hole.

"What's up James?" she said as they stopped a little away from the Fat Lady.

"What are you going to do to Sirius?" Sarah smiled at him sweetly, but it was a sweet that was almost scary, it had venom to it.

"Whatever do you mean dearest cousin?"

"Come on Sarah, I know you're planning to teach him a lesson, so what are you going to do?"

"James I don't have anything planned, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you." James looked at her sceptically. "I honestly don't, at least not yet. And James, please don't ask me to tell you what it is when I figure it out, I promise you will be one of the first to see it okay?"

"Sarah, he really didn't mean anything by what he said. He's got no idea what you're capable of, just go easy on him." Sarah's eyes narrowed at her cousin's request.

"Did you warn him?"

"Well yeah bu-"

"Then it's fair game, James."

"He didn't take me seriously, Sarah."

"Do you want me to warn him then? If I warn him it's going to be a damn good prank."

"Warn him at least let him know something's coming." James nodded.

"In public or alone?"

"Alone let's not make this bigger than its already going to be." Sarah smiled at her cousin's faith in her, he knew anything she did with a warning was going to be big, plus Sirius insulted her abilities to prank someone because she was a girl. _Yeah, this is going to be massive. _

"Alright, but at least let me threaten him alone, okay?" James nodded and walked in the opposite direction of the entrance as Sarah went back into the Common Room.

She walked over the sofa that Sirius and Remus were sitting on.

"Black can I talk to you privately?" He looked at Sarah with a cocky smirk on his face. _Oh I am going to get you good; any shot at all you had with mercy is officially gone. _

"Sure Sarah." He got up and followed her out of the portrait hole the same way Sarah had followed James.

Once they were outside the stopped roughly the same distance away from the entrance as she had when she spoke with James.

"So Sarah what's up?" He flashed her a brilliant smile that was clearly meant to charm her, but it had the opposite effect, she was just more enraged by it.

"I was told to warn you, apparently you weren't convinced by James and he felt that it was only fair to give you a proper warning. So this is it. I will teach you a lesson you won't forget soon Black, and don't under estimate me."

"I don't think that's possible Peverell." _Bloody prick you are going to regret saying that. _Instead of speaking her thoughts Sarah gave him a challenging half smile.

"You were warned Black."

"Exactly what did I do to deserve the wrath of Sarah Peverell?" He asked taking a step closer to Sarah who despite wanting to put distance between them, stood her ground.

"You're an egotistical, arrogant prick that made the mistake of thinking a girl can't pull off a proper prank. But don't worry you'll learn." As she was saying this, Sarah took a half step forward so her face was extremely close to Sirius', her whispered words tickling his skin.

Sirius could hardly control himself, he was so close to her that if he leaned just a little, his lips would be on hers. He constantly swallowed reminding himself that this was James' cousin, practically his little sister, and she was threatening him, and she was doing a hell of a job torturing him. She leaned forward even more, her cheek almost touching his and whispered in his ear.

"Mark my words Black; you will get the prank of a lifetime." With that Sarah walked back to the portrait hole and into the Common Room.

Sirius was left standing in the corridor dumbstruck and actually regretting making her an enemy.


End file.
